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Alphonse Frankenstein[1] is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts, with his only appearance, in the twelfth episode of the second season and is portrayed by guest star Gregory Itzin.
Alphonse Frankenstein is based on the character of the same name from the classic novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.
History
In the Land Without Color, Alphonse is a leading military official in his home land of Austria. He has two sons, Gerhardt Frankenstein, who like his father is a brilliant soldier, and Victor, who is a scientist. Alphonse prefers Gerhardt and looks down upon Victor's profession. When Victor focuses on his experiments on reviving the dead, Alphonse considers it a foolish goal but allows Victor to use their summer home for his experiments, though he eventually grows tired of his son's antics in experimentation.
On Christmas Day, the three celebrate the holidays together. For each of his sons, he gives a gift. Because Gerhardt is his favored child, he presents him with his mother's antique watch. For Victor, he bestows a letter commanding him to join the army as a physician to coerce him into abandoning his experiments, while trying to pass it off as a gift. Though Victor protests against the change, Alphonse thinks little of his son's antics in experimentation. To have the final word, Alphonse cuts off the monetary expenses to discontinue Victor's scientific work.
When Victor gains gold from Rumplestiltskin to continue his experiments, he heads out to the graveyard to dig up a corpse to bring back to the lab. While there, Gerhardt shows up. A graveyard guard fires at them for their intrusion, but they escape into Victor's awaiting carriage. Unexpectedly, Gerhardt sustains a gunshot wound and dies shortly after. Without his father's knowledge, Victor tries to bring Gerhardt back to life, but the strain of the operation causes his brother's heart to burn to a crisp black. Afterwards, Alphonse happens to enter into the lab and is stunned to see Gerhardt's body. Though Victor promises to bring his brother back so Alphonse can have his son back, he blames him for Gerhardt's death and disowns Victor, bitterly stating now he has no sons.
Later, Victor goes on a journey to the Enchanted Forest to procure a stronger, magical heart to revive Gerhardt with. The operation is a success, and he brings his father to show him the new Gerhardt. At first, Alphonse is pleased, but realizes the person he sees that Gerhardt is now amnesic and mute. Denouncing the creature before him as a monster he tells Victor that is not his beloved son. Angrily, he berates and physically attacks Victor for what has happened, disowning him and calling him a disgrace to the family for his actions and experiments. Confused and agitated by the commotion, Gerhardt pushes his father to the ground and beats him while Victor stoically watches. Though Victor eventually decides to stop Gerhardt he realizes that their father has already died, leaving Victor to mourn over his fathers body as Gerhardt runs away in shame. ("In the Name of the Brother")
Family
| Unknown † | Alphonse Frankenstein † | ||||||||||||||||
| Victor FrankensteinDr. Whale | Gerhardt Frankenstein | ||||||||||||||||
Notes:
- Solid lines denote blood relationships
- Dashed lines denote marriage
- † denotes the deceased
Trivia
Production Notes
- In the episode script for "In the Name of the Brother", it is revealed that Alphonse is a widower and his wife, Victor and Gerhardt's mother, was called Heidi.[2] In the novel, the character is named Caroline Beaufort and she dies from scarlet fever right before Victor leaves for the university.
Costume Notes
- The epaulettes worn by Alphonse[3] and Gerhardt Frankenstein[4] are the same design worn by the Arendelle General in "Rocky Road",[5] the Duke of Weselton[6] and King Harald[7] in "The Snow Queen", the Oz guards in "Heart of Gold",[8] "Our Decay"[9] and "Where Bluebirds Fly"[10] and by Captain Nemo in "Dark Waters",[11] "Page 23"[12] and "A Wondrous Place".[13] ("In the Name of the Brother")
Appearances
| Once Upon a Time: Season Two | ||||||||||
| "Broken": | "We Are Both": | "Lady of the Lake": | "The Crocodile": | "The Doctor": | "Tallahassee": | "Child of the Moon": | "Into the Deep": | "Queen of Hearts": | "The Cricket Game": | "The Outsider": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| "In the Name of the Brother": | "Tiny": | "Manhattan": | "The Queen Is Dead": | "The Miller's Daughter": | "Welcome to Storybrooke": | "Selfless, Brave and True": | "Lacey": | "The Evil Queen": | "Second Star to the Right": | "And Straight On 'Til Morning": |
| Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
References
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